Crossroads
by vulgarityx
Summary: Alice made a deal, decided to be a crossroads demon, but when Sam and Dean manage to exorcise her, what will her new life be like? Will she join the boys on their jobs? Will Crowley come after her? Will she find love? All of the above!
1. Chapter 1

*** I don't own any of this except the character Alice***

"Sammy, listen, I'm not taking no for an answer."

Dean was yelling over Metallica as his brother pouted in the passenger seat. Sam turned down the music trying to level with his older brother

"Dean, it's fine, I can handle it. We've faced worse things."

"Yeah, 'we' have, the two of us. I'm not letting some invisible beasties track you down because of me."

"You would do the same for me. In fact, I'm pretty sure you have!"

"And I'm doing it again," Dean said and, trying to conclude their argument, he turned the music back up.

"Look at yourself, Dean, whatever that thing is, it's spreading." This comment went ignored "Do you even have a photo for the summon?" Sam asked, having to yell again.

Dean smirked and pulled a picture from his pocket, slightly crinkled. It was a photo of the two of them from their father's wallet.

Sam and Dean had been working a case in New Orleans, some new breed of rougarou that a local coven had brewed up. There were only three of them, but the rougarous wiped out the entire coven before Sam and Dean has even gotten there. They took them out, of course, but Dean didn't get out unscathed.

They pulled up to a set of crossroads just outside of town and started digging the hole for the ritual.

"Dean, hey, relax, okay?"

"Please, Sam, that's not even a hole."

"Dean!" He was surprised at how all of this was getting under Sam's skin so he put his hands up in surrender and leaned on the front of Baby, letting his brother set up the ritual.

"Well, that's it, I guess," Sam said, looking over his shoulder at Dean, throwing his arms up.

A minute or two later, they heard light footprints. The crossroads demon. They had dealt with a few in the past, but they never seemed to summon the same one, although this girl looked oddly familiar.

"Poor black kitty," the demon said, "I always hated that part of the ritual." She pouted a little before shrugging her shoulders and smiling at Sam. "Sam Winchester, I was wondering when I'd get to make a deal with you, and Dean," she looked over Sam's shoulder and waved with her fingers, "you don't look too good. Please tell me this is life or death."

"Something like that," Sam said, impatient. He watched as the demon twirled a strand of her dark hair around her finger, trying to avoid looking into her eyes, bright red. She was smug.

"Go on.."

"Dean's been...bitten by something, a rougarou, sorta. The transformation process is slowed down or something and we have to fix it."

"So your soul for your brother's humanity?" she asked, "Let's be honest, he didn't have much to begin with."

Sam looked back to notice his brother glaring and smiling sarcastically.

"Okay, Sam, you know how this goes," the demon said, trailing off seductively.

"Wait, we've never made a deal with you before."

"Me? No, but friends of mine, you know how word travels in hell."

"Then why do you look so familiar?"

The demon smirked and then started laughing boastfully. "Oh, Sam, it's not me that's familiar, it's who I was. You remember, don'tcha? Little Alice Morrison from LA, one of your first cases. You found my parents." Her lighthearted tone darkened at the end, turned bitter.

Dean leaned in to listen closer. He remembered her, not much younger than she looked today. Her parents had disappeared, they had a suicide pact at a motel down the street. Turned out not to be very supernatural, but Dean and Sam stuck around as the case had been sorted out. Alice was always a free spirit, but her parents death had her running from everyone and everything. The last time Dean saw her, she was slamming the door on her baby blue convertible. They were tracking her city by city on the West coast to make sure she was okay, but they stayed far enough away that she couldn't catch on. Sam had slept in later than usual but Dean was up. He saw Alice walk out of the motel room with only her backpack. It seemed she left more and more shit behind every time she left. Usually, she looked completely cool when she was heading out, but that morning she looked broken, like the first day he met her. He had run out before she left and she stiffened up, surprised to see him. He had tried to reason with her to stay but she drove off anyway. He thought about her now and then, but never thought he'd see her again, at least not as a crossroads demon. How does that even happen?

"How do you even become a crossroads demon?" Sam asked.

"I made a deal," Alice said simply. Sam just looked confused. "Look, I was having a hard time. Let's just say I had a meeting with the king of hell himself, told him I didn't want to be stuck down there all the time. He agreed, said I could work this gig. I guess the whole underworld system has gone to hell."

"Sammy!" Dean called for his brother from the car. Sam was reluctant to turn his back on Alice, she might disappear before the deal was made. Sam ignored his brother.

"Maybe we can help," he said. Alice scoffed.

"Oh yeah? How?"

"I don't know, maybe, maybe we can make a different kind of deal."

If it was possible, the red in Alice's eyes dulled a bit. Part of her was beginning to get annoyed with this small talk, but another part, maybe what remained of her human side, was warming up to the idea.

"Now hear me out. Maybe, you fix up Dean and your contract with Crowley can be broken."

"Sam, you don't know how deep this shit is. You're a nice guy, optimistic. This is bigger than you. I wouldn't know the first thing about twisting around demon rules. I asked for this."

"You're a crossroads demon, you make your own deals."

"Listen, if we can hypothetically do this, it will be a lot more complicated than a deal. It'll take an exorcism, probably some kind of veil so Crowley doesn't sniff this out."

"A veil? Could an angel do that?"

"In theory…"

Sam could hear Dean calling his name again.

"Dean, shut up."

The three of them were quiet for a bit, the air buzzed with energy.

"Fine," Alice said.

"What?" Sam and Dean said in unison

"I said fine, let's do it. But I'll tell you this right now, I'm going to fight you all the way," Alice said, not fully understanding how she could shut her demon side out.

Alice pulled Sam into a quick kiss to seal the deal, typical crossroads fashion, hoping this was the last time she would have to kiss someone under these circumstances.

The next couple days, Sam and Dean talked to Castiel about how to hide the human world from hell, unsure if it would actually work. Dean had recovered completely the night they met Alice and, as thankful as he was, this whole plan seemed illogical, even in supernatural terms.

"I mean, if there was a way to cast a veil over our lives, why the hell haven't we been doing it for years?" Dean asked in frustration. They had returned to the bunker.

"That would take more angels than there are in Heaven, Dean. And talk about favoritism. Now I can do this, but it will only last a little while," Castiel explained.

"How little?"

"Three minutes."

"Three minutes?!"

"Maybe a few seconds more. Or less."

"Three minutes, more or less. I don't know about you Sammy, but I've never done an exorcism that took less than 10. We're in for a hell of a ride, thanks a lot."

"Hey," Sam spoke up, "I did this for you and I did this for a friend. You saw her, she looked freaked out, Dean, real freaked."

"I saw a demon, Sam."

"Listen, if things in hell are getting so bad as to have people volunteer to be crossroad demons, maybe this is a chance to infiltrate, I don't know. She said it was bigger."

"I don't know if we need bigger right now," Dean said.

"Sam may be right. I've heard rumors, Crowley is losing a lot of respectability," Cas said.

"The fewer demons the better," Sam said.

Dean groaned loudly, but nodded.

That night, they drove out to a set of crossroads closest to the bunker and set up the ritual.

"Alright, Sammy, who speaks faster, you or me?"

"Well, you can sing Immigrant Song without missing a beat," Sam said, walking next to his brother.

"That's different," Dean said, smiling just a bit, "Fine. I'll do it. Just make sure you tie her up quick. That tree is probably your best bet."

Sam nodded and placed the photo on top of the hole and waited for Alice. After she showed up, Sam would have to restrain her and, when Cas gave the signal he would start dropping the veil. Dean would perform the exorcism.

"Hi boys," Alice said, striding into view. Her gait was as confident as ever, but her voice was quieter. Sam smiled quickly and pulled her against the tree and started tying her arms behind her around the bark.

"Well, Sam, I didn't know you were into this kind of thing. I like it," Alice winked. Even she knew she was trying to lighten the mood and, as a demon, this was a great skill.

Sam didn't say anything and Dean walked up to them, book in hand, though he had performed so many of these that he didn't really need it. He found it difficult to look Alice in the eye. He just nodded at both of them.

Cas clapped twice and, since that was the signal, Dean started on with the exorcism. Sam looked on between Castiel and Alice, both seemed to be in an equal amount of pain. He had his timer set for three minutes and hoped Dean would be fast enough. Alice struggled against her restraints and Sam thought she might actually break through. Rope wouldn't be enough for a crossroads demon, but she didn't start to try prying herself out until the exorcism had started. Her legs, which were not tied, started to bend behind her, curving her back into a C against the tree, her head back and screaming. Dean kept going. In the moonlight, Castiel was filled with a rivaling light. If he looked close enough, Sam could see that his legs and arms were shaking violently, trying to contain the veil. There were three other angels with Cas on different corners of the world, trying to balance out the veil and keep it down for, as Cas predicted, three minutes. Dean kept going, getting louder and quicker with each verse.

With one last scream, the demon was expelled and Alice collapsed. Her head hung and her legs gave out. Her arms, still tied around the tree, were scratched. It was a few seconds until Cas too collapsed as the veil was raised again. Dean closed the book and all was quiet again. He looked around, seeing Alice, Cas, and Sam on their knees, a cautious look in Sam's eyes.

"It that it?" Dean asked.


	2. Chapter 2

Alice woke up as her head bounced a bit off of a car seat. She had been laid in the back of Dean's car and they went over a bump. She let out a groan and Sam turned to look at her, smiling.

"Hey, look who's up!" Dean said, glancing at Alice in his rearview mirror, "And just in time, listen to what's playing!" _Pour Some Sugar on Me_ started playing and Dean tapped his fingers on his steering wheel to the beat.

"How are ya' feeling?" Sam asked.

Alice sat up, a little disoriented. She felt hungover, but she nodded.

"Did it work?" She asked.

"You tell us," Dean said.

"Do either of you have a knife?" Alice asked.

"Uh, yeah. Why?" Sam asked.

"Gimme it," Alice reached out. Sam reluctantly reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a switchblade and gave it to her.

Alice took it and held the blade to her thigh and cut into the skin. She winced as it cut through her and she started to bleed. The scar didn't look much different from the rest of the cuts on her legs, but she could feel this one more.

"Hey, whoa, what are you doing?" Sam asked.

"I had to check," Alice said wincing still, "if it didn't work, I wouldn't have felt that."

"Should've just used holy water," Dean said.

"I wish you would've told me that before," Alice said. There was that attitude Dean and Sam remembered fondly. "Where are we going?"

"Hospital. There's one right-"

"No," Alice said, cutting Sam off, "no way, no."

"Alice, we-"

"How are you going to explain this, huh?" Alice asked.

"We've explained away stranger things," Dean said.

"If you try to to take me to a hospital, I'll bail. I'll run away. Try me."

Sam and Dean exchanged a look and Sam sat straight in his seat. "Fine," he said, "to the bunker then."

When they got there, the boys helped Alice walk into the bunker, both arms around their shoulders. They sat her on the couch.

"You guys live here?" Alice asked.

"Sometimes," Sam said. Dean walked into the kitchen and grabbed everyone a beer.

"I think we deserve these," Dean said. He sat on the coffee table in front of Alice and drank slowly.

Alice nodded as a thank you, then she started laughing to herself.

Sam smiled and looked at Dean before asking, "what's so funny?"

"I don't know. Big bad Winchester brothers live in a house with potpourri and I'm having a beer on their fucking leather couch.

"Hey," Dean said, "Sam got the potpourri. How do you even spell that?"

Sam shook his head. "I'm glad you're feeling better," he said, "but we should really do something about those cuts."

Alice looked down and noticed how roughed up she really was.

"I can get Cas to fix ya up," Dean said, taking another sip.

"Is Cas that angel from tonight?" Alice asked.

Sam nodded a yes.

"Don't call him. I think I should remember what it's like to heal as a human. It's been a while."

"Out of all the ridiculous shit we've done tonight, that may be the stupidest," Dean said.

Sam shrugged in understanding. "I don't know," he said, "makes sense to me."

"Whatever," Dean said, standing up to get another beer.

"Is anyone hungry?" Alice asked.

Dean turned around and said, "always."

That night, Alice wanted to take a shower before she tried to sleep and after eating more Chinese food than she thought possible. She had a hard time standing up completely straight, her legs were still scratched and unsteady, but she was able to hold on to a small railing in the shower. The boys were careful not to get too busy or fall asleep until they made she she was in bed okay.

"I've gotta hand it to ya, Sammy, I didn't think this would work," Dean said as he stood across from Sam in the kitchen.

"I didn't exactly know myself," Sam said with a small laugh, "I didn't think we'd see Alice again, either. Especially not like…"

"I sort of thought we would" Dean said thoughtfully.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I don't know, always had a feeling."

Sam shrugged and decided to go into the library and do some research for their next job.

Dean gathered up the empties and threw them away. He heard the shower turn off and slow footsteps from the bathroom to the guest room Sam had shown Alice earlier. He wasn't completely comfortable with what he and his brother had done that night. Not that he wasn't glad Alice had come out okay and he got to not turn into a rougarou, that was a plus, but it seemed too simple. He had thought about Alice more than he cared to admit when they had left LA. She was beautiful, that was no question, but she had more fight in her than Dean had seen in anyone except, well, his own mother. And she had been so reckless, with her parents gone and all. He was thankful, for once, that his father had honed in his own rebellious spirit when he was young. Maybe he and Alice had more in common than mommy and daddy issues.

He considered turning in for the night when he heard her door close but stopped in front of it and rapped his knuckles on the wood.

"One minute," Alice called from the other side. When she opened the door, she was still adjusting the baseball shirt she had on that Sam had left for her.

"Nice shirt," Dean said with a smirk, "I'm glad Sammy's small enough that his shirts sort of fit ya."

Alice smiled and said, "yeah, you want to come in or something?"

"Do I need a formal invitation?"

"Please, do come in," Alice said laughing, an arm extended to display the room.

Dean walked in and sat on a chair by the bed. "To tell you the truth, I forgot what this room looked like."

"It's not bad," Alice said. She closed the door a little and sat on the bed across from Dean, trying to make herself comfortable. She picked at the edges of one of the many bandages on her legs. "How long until you kick me out of here?

"What?" Dean asked, "No, you can stay as long as you want."

"Don't tempt me, I could take full advantage of that."

Dean smiled as he said, "that doesn't sound like the Alice I remember."

"Yeah, well, I'm sick of running," Alice said avoiding his eyes. "When I wasn't running from you, I was running from my friends and family, and then the police, and Crowley, I just...I'm tired."

"We don't exactly sit still around here, ya know," Dean said.

"No, I know," Alice said and sat quiet for a little. "I never really thanked you guys."

"Don't mention it."

"Not just for this, whatever tonight was, letting me stay here, but for what you did in LA."

"All part of the job, babe."

"You didn't have to follow me as I hopped from motel to motel," she said, looking at Dean.

"Yeah, well, we didn't have any pressing jobs and uh, we were worried."

"Thank you."

Dean nodded. He opened his mouth to say something and then stopped himself.

"What?" Alice asked.

"How did you come to make a deal with Crowley in the first place?"

"It's a long story," Alice said. Realizing he was waiting for her to continue, she went on: "I skipped out of LA, traveled South down to Arizona and Texas, New Orleans, went up East until I got to New York and everything in between. It was nice for a while, lonely, but beautiful, ya know? Taking time, finding odd jobs, being able to pick up and leave whenever I wanted. I saw a lot of great things, but I got into a lot of trouble. Did things that I never really thought I would. I kind of liked the slow burn, ya know? And then one night, I was in this hotel in New York, taking a bath one night after a weird acid trip. I started drinking. I think I must have overdosed. I just remember falling asleep and Crowley was prying my eyelids open, said he wanted to talk. In the meantime, my roommate Marie had gotten me to the hospital. They hooked me up and all that. Crowley said we didn't have a lot of time. Basically, it was either die and stay with him in whatever rung of hell I deserved or become a demon. I had read up on all that shit after you two had come into town. Being a crossroads demon just seemed, I don't know, kind of nice. Meet a lot of people, make their wildest dreams come true, a little payback, so.."

"So you made a deal," Dean said.

"Yeah." She looked ashamed of herself.

"Hey, Alice, it's okay," he put his hand on her knee and she look up at him again. "You know, I was possessed too. Ask Sammy all about it, I was a dick." He made light, but Alice could tell it took a toll on him too.

"You mean, more than normal?"

The two of them laughed for a little and Dean said, "Yeah, well I should let you get some sleep." He stood up and Alice nodded.

"Goodnight Dean."


	3. Chapter 3

Alice woke up with the sunrise at the bunker. It had been a couple weeks since Sam and Dean had brought her there and she had tried to make a habit of getting up early, though she hated it more every morning. The bad dreams had come and gone. This time, it was about her parents and she wasn't really sure whether it was a nightmare or not. She felt the little girl inside her tremble a bit and got anxious alone in that bunker. She knew it was safe and she felt at home, but if she couldn't leave, she'd have to busy herself somehow.

Alice got out of bed and started making some coffee. She turned the speakers on and let Zeppelin IV play from start to finish. She grabbed a spoon from the kitchen drawer to stir the milk into her coffee and found a pair of kitchen shears. She caught her reflection in the window that looked out into the forest before running into the bathroom with the scissors. She split her hair in two parts on either side of her face and started cutting her hair even with her jaw. She hadn't cut her hair since before her parents had gone and now just felt like poetic justice. She almost regretted it but seeing the hair literally fill up the sink, she felt satisfied. She thought back to old rituals she had in high school: fixing up old cars, playing the drums, writing petty poetry, doing yoga. A lot about her old life felt foreign and redundant, but she figured, hell, maybe yoga would help.

Dean had set up a fake credit card for her before they left so she had yoga pants somewhere in her room, but she didn't remember a single thing about it so, like any good millennial, she turned to the internet. She found almost too many yoga videos and she just picked the first one. Alice moved the coffee table off of the rug in the middle of the library and started stretching there, trying to force the muscle memory of downward dog and child's pose.

"Well, that's something to come home to," Dean said, obviously smirking. Alice nearly lost her balance. She hadn't heard the guys come in. She moved out of the pose and stood to face them, only a little embarrassed.

"You cut your hair," Sam said with a smile.

"And yoga," Dean said suggestively.

"Hey, how was the hunt?"

Dean dropped his bags in front of the door and Sam rolled his eyes, picked it up, and moved the bags to their rooms before coming back out.

"Ghosts, asylums, burned bones, oh my!" Dean said sarcastically.

"When am I going to join you two on these hunts?"

"You're not," Dean said sternly.

"What? Why not? I could be useful."

"Yeah? How do you figure?"

"I could train with you guys and I could do research with Sam. I'm more cunning than you think. To be honest, I'm more afraid of people than anything else out there."

"Then you don't know what's really out there," Dean said walking to the fridge and staring into it.

"Bullshit," Alice said, lifting herself onto the counter.

Sam came into the kitchen to hear the budding argument.

"Not only did I deal with assholes on a day to day basis on my little road trip, but terrible people aren't the only ones who call on crossroad demons. I've dealt with vampires and witches and werewolves-"

"Yeah, but did you have to fight them off? Where they trying to kill you while they made their little deals? No," Dean retorted, turning to look at Alice sternly.

"Then teach me."

"Waste of time," Dean said.

"You sound like dad," Sam said. Dean just looked at him and brushed it off. "I don't see why we couldn't train her, Dean. She already lives here and let's not pretend we couldn't use the extra help."

"How long is that going to take, Sam?!"

"I'm a quick learner," Alice spoke up.

"We'll see," Dean said before walking to the bathroom.

Sam and Alice exchanged looks when Dean was out of the room.

"Was that a yes?" Alice asked.

"I think so."


	4. Chapter 4

It was a Thursday in October and it was fucking cold. Alice wrapped the comforter around her as she got out of bed even though she didn't think to put any socks on. She moved quickly down the hallway past Dean's room and the bathroom into the kitchen. The bunker was quiet. She peeked down the opposite hallway to where Sam's room was and still heard nothing. And she thought she had slept in.

Shivering a little, she started a pot of coffee and sat at the island listening to it percolate a bit. The trees outside were changing colors and Alice found herself marveling in it. This was the best time of year. As she heard the coffee drip slow, she scratched at the back of her neck, her short hair itched as it grew. She poured herself a cup and put a little sugar in. She grabbed two more mugs and filled them, kept one of them black, for Dean, and poured a dash of milk in the other, for Sam. She figured she'd make breakfast for the lot of them since she was up and they had just gotten back from a job last night. She could really only cook a couple things and those things were all breakfast related. She decided to fry up a few eggs, bacon, and toast; keep it simple. There were some strawberries in the fridge that would go bad in a few days too that she pulled out.

After a little, she warmed up and the blanket got in the way of cooking the bacon, so she shed it and tossed it on the couch. She stood in the kitchen in a pair of shorts and a sweatshirt as she cooked and the sun rose a little higher outside. She heard scratching on the door as she walked into the living room and she froze. No one could just find the bunker, it didn't make any sense. She heard the scratching again and she had to investigate. She walked slowly towards the door and peeked out the window next to it. She didn't see anything so she exhaled. It was then that she saw a cat jump in front of her face. It was a small gray cat, yellow eyes with a glimmer of curiosity. Alice looked beyond to cat to see if anything else was out there and saw nothing. She always had a soft spot for animals, all instinct and exploration. So she opened the door. The cat sauntered in, smelling the walls and Alice's feet. She bent down to let it smell her fingers. The cat's nose was cold as it sniffed her and then rubbed against her knuckles. Alice stood and walked back to the kitchen.

A minute later, Sam walked from his room already dressed for the day but still had sleep in his eyes.

"Good morning, Sam! I have a plate for ya," Alice said, setting aside one of everything for Sam.

"Hey, thanks. How'd you sleep?" Sam said, reaching for the plate and walking around the island.

"Good, same as every night, Sam." Alice took a sip of her coffee and watched as Sam ate. His face changed when he felt something rub up against his leg, freaked him out so much that he scooted off the stool.

"Whoa, what the hell?" he exclaimed. He looked down and saw the small cat.

Alice tried to hold in her laugh as she said, "Yeah, found the poor thing outside scratching at the door. I think it smelled the food. I didn't know anything could find this place."

"They can't. At least, they shouldn't," Sam said, looking cautious. He looked at Alice and she nodded down to the cat, nudging him to let it get used to him.

"Can we keep it?" Alice asked.

"I uh, I don't know, we should probably talk to Dean."

"C'mon Sam, it's just a cat."

"Still."

"Well, fine, let's wake the kid up, yeah?" Alice said, with a smirk. She scooped the cat up in her arms and scratched behind it's ear as she walked to Dean's room. Sam followed with his brother's cup of coffee and to see the look on his face.

Alice made sure to open the door to Dean's room slow and quiet and tip toed up to Dean's bed. Dean was flat on his stomach asleep. She knelt down and let the cat sniff the sheets before climbing onto the bed and onto Dean's back. He flinched a bit and then woke up and turned on his side and went for his knife before he heard Alice and Sam start laughing. He stopped and felt little paws stepping on his chest. He was face to face with the cat.

"What the hell?"

"Aw Dean, I think he likes you," Alice exclaimed, still laughing. Dean's face was still contorted with vague anger and Sam walked further into the room.

"If it's a he," Sam said. The cat turned around on Dean's chest when Alice started petting it. It stuck its tail up in the air in front of Dean's face.

"Oh, it's a boy," Dean said, irritated. The cat settled in a ball on his chest. "Can ya get it off of me?"

Alice cooed the cat as she picked it up and Sam put Dean's coffee on his bed side table as dean sat up. "Where'd that thing even come from?" he asked.

"Alice said he was scratching at the door this morning," Sam said.

"How it that-"

"We don't know."

"Guys," Alice interrupted, "it's just a damn cat, I think we're fine. Maybe animals can get past the spell or whatever is over this place. Now, Dean, get up, breakfast is getting cold."

"Breakfast?" Dean asked, "I thought that bacon smell was just a dream."

The three of them, or well, the four of them, walked into the kitchen and Dean sat next to Sam at the table, a fork and knife in each hand and an expectant smile on his face.

"I'm not going to serve you, Dean," Alice said, sipping her coffee.

"C'mon, Al," Dean whined, "what if I promised we'd train today?"

"Seriously?" Alice asked, interested.

Dean just nodded vigorously like a little kid.

"Fine," Alice said. She turned and grabbed Dean two eggs, extra bacon, and buttered toast, leaving the fruit for her and Sam. "Eat up, Mister Miyagi."

Sam had gone into the library to read up on what could be their next case. Alice had been told to meet Dean in the basement after breakfast and to "wear something tight." Alice had rolled her eyes, but she was smart enough to know jeans wouldn't be the best thing to practice in, not yet anyway.

She made her way down to the basement where there was a sort of gymnastics pad in the middle of the room and two big mirrors leaned on the north and east walls. A punching bag was in the corner and a few weights were off to the side. Dean was facing away from Alice as she walked down, velcroing fingerless gloves on.

"Is this where you practice ballet, Dean?" Alice asked, but Dean wasn't smiling when he turned around. He just threw her a pair of gloves that looked like his, only smaller.

"Listen, this isn't like your little yoga crap, okay? This is important."

"Oh, don't be a pig. Just because I do yoga doesn't mean I'm weak. I'm a woman, too, is that going to be a problem?"

"Please, woman can do this. You, my friend, have little to no experience and if I'm even going to consider letting you come along, you better keep up," Dean said, "I'm not going easy on ya." They were face to face at that point, each fuming just a bit. Dean taught her how to stand to shift her weight and keep strong. He looked in her eyes and asked, "You ready?"

"For what?" Alice asked. Dean threw a punch her way and she blocked it. They went in circles for a while as Dean advanced on Alice and she kept blocking all his attacks.

"Okay, okay, so your defense is," Dean said and held up his thumb and index finger in an "OK."

Alice was breathing heavier than he was and rested her hands on her hips, a little proud of herself.

"It's your attack that we have to work on," Dean went on.

Cue montage music:

For the next few weeks, Alice would wake up early, do a little yoga just to warm up and took to the basement, not only to practice with Dean, but to work out on her own too. She kept remembering the people she encountered on her road trips, the not so friendly ones, she thought about her parents, how they chose to leave her, she thought about the slimy bastards who called her to made deals, how they lingered just too long when they kissed her. The stronger she became, the more her mind turned to the good people, Dean and Sam, the forgiveness for her parents. Instead of anger, she wanted to protect. And she was learning to. She and Dean moved in near choreographed circles of combat and there was no going easy.

Alice and Dean were toe to toe. Alice caught their reflections in the mirrors and smirked at how she looked, stronger and prepared. In the beginning, she was anxious to look away from Dean, worried he would take a shot at her, but now, she could measure her surroundings, trust her peripheral vision, even use it. She saw something quick move in the corner of her eye as Dean advanced. Alice looked over her shoulder and dodged Dean, a little freaked out until she saw the cat sitting by the stairs.

"Alice," Dean said, getting her attention back. She felt pulled in too many directions and whipped her leg around and kicked Dean in the jaw. By the time she saw how she reacted, Dean was clutching his face.

"Oh shit, Dean," Alice said rushing to him, "I'm sorry, I didn't-" She laughed a little bit, feeling awkward.

"No, no, that was good uh," Dean said, "shit."

"Here, let's get upstairs," Alice said, lending an arm for dean to hold onto as they went back upstairs into the kitchen.

"Sit," Alice said, nodding to the stool, and Dean followed. She opened the freezer. "What, you're hunters and you don't own any ice packs?"

"Things we fight usually require more than ice packs, Al," Dean said.

"Yeah, I guess," Alice said, looking for a substitute. She grabbed a bag of frozen peas and mumbled to herself, "this should do. She walked back to Dean and pulled his hand off of his face and replaced it with the frozen peas.

"Man, I feel like Rocky."

"Yeah, well, we don't need you looking like him," Alice said, "here, hold that still."

"That was pretty good, ya know," Dean said, looking Alice in the eye. Her eyes were wandering his face making sure he was okay, which he thought was pretty cute. She stepped a little bit away once she found that the rest of him was okay.

"Just pretty good?" Alice mused, "I've been working my ass off."

"Yeah, I know, kid," Dean said. Alice lifted herself to sit on the island, looking sideways at Dean. She still looked guilty. "I probably deserved that anyway," he finished.

"Probably," she said with a laugh. She looked at him and lingered for a few moments. They had gotten pretty close over the last few days. He had softened around her and she'd become probably the healthiest version of herself than she ever had been. She didn't know how long the two of them just sat there, looking at each other. It was weird. But it was weirder that it really wasn't at all awkward.

"You want a drink?" Alice asked, finally saying something.

"Uh, sure," Dean said, straightening his back, "yeah."

The two of them settled in on the couch. The Exorcist was playing on TV to ring in the Halloween season and Dean went to change it before Alice stopped him.

"It's cool. We can make fun of it or something," Alice said. About halfway through, Sam came home from getting groceries, including more beer and cat food. Dean still had a hand on the bag of peas on his face.

"What happened here?" Sam asked.

"I clocked him," Alice said, full of pride.

Sam started laughing and Dean just nodded his head, "Yeah, yeah," he said, "get it all out now."

"Good work, Alice," he said as he walked down the hall into his room.

"Here," Alice said when Sam was gone, "let me see it."

Dean turned to face her and stuck his jaw out a bit as he removed the peas. Alice reached out a little and tapped it. It was already swollen and dark purple. Dean winced a little bit but sat still.

"How bad is it?" he asked.

"Well," Alice started, "it's not good for you, but it's good for me." She sat back into the couch and turned to watch the credits start to roll.

Dean stretched his arm over the back of the couch and laughed, "Maybe you are ready," he said.

"Really?" Alice looked over smiling wide at Dean. He just pulled her into his side so that she was leaning into him.

"Yeah, well don't let it go to your head," Dean said, taking another sip, "I said, 'maybe.'"


	5. Chapter 5

_Part 1_

"Alice?" Dean looked around him and saw no one beside him, no gargantuan little brother, no small brunette, only doors, closed doors, closed seemingly shaking doors. Or was the shaking from the floors? He could hear the uproar of partygoers downstairs but there was something else, a pounding and, was that someone calling his name?

EARLIER THAT DAY...

"Dean! Deeeean, wake up Dean-o," Alice shook his shoulder as he slept, or pretended to. He let out a groan before opening his eyes. Alice was too awake for him right then.

"What," he said more than asked. Alice leaned down a kissed his cheek quickly.

"Happy Halloween," she said before hopping off of the bed, "now get up, it's fucking 2 in the afternoon and there are parties all around the world tonight.

"I hate Halloween," Dean said as he sat up.

Alice was already out of the room, Dean could hear the Misfits playing from the living room. He walked out of his room and down the hall just in time to see his brother doing the same thing opposite him.

"She get you up too?" Sam asked. Dean just glared at him.

"What should we do tonight, guys?" Alice asked, "I'm thinking big cities, there's always too much shit going on in New York, LA, Chicago, probably something great in New Orleans. Oh! There's fantasy fest in Key West!"

"You wake us up without breakfast?" Dean asked, "what kind of a monster are you?"

Sam grabbed the carton of orange juice from the fridge and set it down before turning to get a mug. While his back was turned, Dean finished it all in a swig.

"Oh guys, come on, I'm sick of this brooding routine you two have perfected," Alice said.

"Halloween is always the busiest day of the year," Sam explained turning around.

"And somehow," Dean said, "people get stupider." Sam picked up the carton, mug in hand, and shook it, finding it empty. He glared at Dean, who just smiled in return.

"So be it. People are stupid. Monsters are out there. But there are also a lot of exciting people and alcohol and debauchery happening too!"

"Don't we get enough of that?" Dean asked.

"Well I'm sick of being stuck in this bunker so if you guys won't go out on the greatest day of the year, then I'll go out myself," Alice said sauntering into the living room.

"Now you're being stupid," Dean said, turning in his stool to look at her, "you go out without us, you'll come across something or other and you'll be screwed."

"I'm sorry, I'm pretty sure I kicked the hell out of you the other day. Ya know, I can still see the bruise underneath that concealer."

"It's not concealer!"

"Ya know, your skin tone is little lighter than mine," Alice said sitting back smug.

"Hey, Dean's got a point," Sam spoke up, "things get weird out there around this time. I don't know, Dean, maybe we should just-"

"What, Sammy? Get dressed as Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum and hunt down the local vampires?" Dean fought.

"Well, I don't know about Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum…"Alice mused. She leaned forward to stand.

"What'd you have in mind, princess?" Dean asked sarcastically.

"Well, I originally thought we could do a KISS thing, all leather and face paint, but we're missing a person," Alice paused to look over at the boys, both with a hint of disgust on their face, "And then I thought, no, I should think simpler. And dressing as something we hunt would be in bad taste," she trailed off as she walked to the closet by the door. She pulled out three outfit bags and handed the two larger ones to Sam and Dean. Sam started to unzip his while Dean just started at Alice, unamused. "Flappers," Alice finished.

"Flappers?" Dean asked.

"Well, _a_ flapper, and her gentlemen. Think: Great Gatsby."

Sam tilted his head looking at the brown blazer and suspenders that hung from the hanger. "It's actually not bad," Sam said finally.

"There's a paper boy hat and a some leather shoes in the deal for ya, too," Alice said.

Dean sighed, still not budging.

"Go try them on," Alice said. She walked up to Dean and leaned down to make eye contact with him still on the stool, "That means you, Dean. If you really hate it, we won't go out. But you have to _hate_ it."

Dean had done a lot of groaning that morning, but he went into his room to change nonetheless. Alice had waited on the couch and, when she heard the distinct tap-tap off dress shoes on the hardwood she turned backwards on the couch, her elbows rested on the back. She smiled instantly. Both Sam and Dean moved comfortable, the suits didn't even look like costumes. She had found their perfect measurements, and she knew that the darker pinstriped suit would look better on Dean, and the bow tie.

"Well, well," Alice hummed, looking them both up and down, "What do you think?"

Sam was the first to speak up, "I gotta say, you did good." Dean caught a glimpse of himself in the hall mirror and adjusting the tuck of his button up.

"Dean?"

He scrunched up his face before saying, "I clean up pretty well."

"You're welcome," Alice said standing up and walking between both of them.

"Well, I don't know how much this has to do with you but.."

"So is that a yes? From both of you?"

Dean and Sam exchanged a look before Sam nodded for both of them.

"Yes!" Alice said excitably, "good because I found a great party at the Roosevelt in LA and I was real excited about my cos-"

"The Roosevelt," Dean asked, isn't that…" Sam cut him off with a whack to the chest.

Alice swallowed and looked at the floor for just a second before saying: "It's cool."

"Well," Sam cleared his throat, "you should get ready, we gotta leave soon if we're going to LA."

Alice nodded and went into her room to pin curl her hair and put her little black dress on. It had a very low-cut back and flattering v-neckline. Rather than fringe, her dress was covered in black and gold beadwork and she had great T-strap heels to match. She came out under half an hour later ready to go.

When the three of them showed up at the Roosevelt, the party was well under way. The bar was packed and there were people in every room and moving between.

"Now listen," Dean started while his brother and Alice were still in earshot, "we stick together. My guess is there are a lot of guest here who haven't left for a while."

"You researched cases here?" Alice asked exasperated.

"Well you took so damn long," Dean retorted.

"It's just typical haunting stuff, Al," Sam said in their defense, "we may as well."

"On that note, I'm going to get a drink," Alice said as she headed towards the bar. She was small but she fought her way to a stool from a couple dressed as Katy Perry and Left Shark. She ordered a gin and tonic with a lime, "and do you have blackberries?" she asked the bartender, "some of those too!" Gin snagged the seat next to her before a vampire snagged it, well, someone dressed up as one.

"Make that two, for my lady friend, here, "Alice said nodding at Dean, who laughed for the first time that day.

"Don't drink too much, babe, we've got work to do."

"Will you just let go of the job for a minute? Is that possible?" She expected a snarky retort but Dean just took a sip of his drink before making a disgusted face.

"How do you drink these?" Dean asked, signalling the bartender for a beer.

"Quickly," she said, pulling Dean's discarded drink closer to her. "Seriously Dean, you're allowed some fun."

"Yeah," he said somberly.

"Where did Sammy get off to?"

"Still somewhere by the door," he said, nodding back to where they walked in. "There was some sexy fairy or angel that was making eyes at him. Figured if I stuck around, she'd just turn on to me instead.

"Yeah," Alice laughed, "definitely Sam's type though."

"Blonde?"

"Well, yes, but I meant and angel."

They sat there for a while before some Sid Vicious look-a-like asked Alice to dance. She raised her eyebrows at Dean before heading out with the guy, but Dean kept an eye out for her. The guy couldn't keep up with Alice, too tall and awkward in his movements. It was when he leaned down near her neck that Dean jumped without meaning too. Alice was oblivious. Dean kept his eye on her as he made a beeline to the two of them until he was close enough to push him off of her.

"What the hell, man?" the guy asked angrily.

"Dean, what are you doing?" Alice asked. Dean was surprised to see the guy had no fangs, real or fake. Alice apologized to the stranger as he walked away and pulled Dean out of the crowd. "Hey, what was that?"

Dean blinked a couple times before apologizing, "stupid costumes, can't tell the monsters from the shitty people." Alice put her hand on his upper arm and laughed a little. She saw Sam pop up behind them. He must have seen the scuffle and fled to action; he looked worried.

"Sam, it's fine," Alice said, "Dean just got a little jealous."

"Not jealous, just would really not want you to be eaten by a vamp," Dean said, finally letting a breath out.

"Wait, there was a vamp?" Sam asked.

"No," Alice said calmly, "don't worry about it. Get back to your girl over there."

Sam looked over his shoulder to where he left the angel girl.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do," Dean said with a nudge. Sam flipped him off before heading back over to her.

"Wanna dance? Ttry to protect me at closer range?" Alice teased.

"I'm gonna need more to drink to do that," Dean said. Alice ran back to the bar and ordered: "Shots!"


	6. Chapter 6

_Part 2_

After seven shots each, Dean had finally loosened up. Alice and Dean found themselves closer and closer to the center of the room surrounded by the hundreds of party guests. Dean couldn't take his hands off of Alice, both for fear of losing track of her and just because, well, look at her. He didn't feel clumsy dancing with her like normal, or at least he didn't care if he was. Alice wriggled in his hands and kept the distance between them minimal. There was a rhythm between their bodies that made them forget about everyone around them. Alice turned so she was chest to chest with Dean and they both had their heads down. Alice kept her eyes closed and just let herself get lost in it.

Then there was a scream.

Dean responded first, head shot up in the direction of the sound. Alice followed where Dean was looking, towards the grand staircase. The scream had turned to laughter, but more maniacal than joking. Sam stuck his head up above the crowd and made eye contact with his brother, nodding towards the staircase. Dean glanced down at Alice and grabbed her hand pulling her through the crowd. Everyone else had just resumed what they were doing.

They were upstairs, unsure which of the multiple hallways to start with.

"Alright well, I'd say let's split up, but if I see two twins down a hallways, I'll shit my pants," Dean said. Alice rolled her eyes and Sam pulled out the EMF right as they heard another round of laughter coming from the southern corridor.

"I say we start there," Alice reasoned. The further they went down the hall the darker it got.

"Isn't there some law about keeping hallway lights on at all times in hotels?" Sam asked.

"I guess they don't want to spend more on electricity than they have to," Dean said. The EMF hadn't stopped going off since they turned left but that wasn't helping anyone.

"What, are all these rooms haunted?" Alice asked.

"Most likely," Sam said.

"Great."

"What, getting scared, Al?" Dean prodded.

"More irritated, if I'm being honest."

"Do you hear that?" Sam asked. It was quiet for a second and, even with all the noise downstairs, they heard the distinct sound of a harmonica.

"Is that," Alice said, "a Bob Dylan song? Girl From North Country, right?"

"At least it's got good taste," Dean said. Alice was still for a minute as the guys walked past her. She looked at the door 1202 and got a chill.

"Al, you okay?" Dean asked, once he realized she was behind him. She nodded before catching up.

"God, it's cold," Alice said,

"That happens."

Alice looked up at the few paintings and mirrors every few steps. There was one of a modern looking blonde who looked like she had been crying.

"Whoa," Sam yelled, distracting Alice from the painting. It turned out not to be a spirit but Dean jumping up behind him. "Seriously, Dean?"

Dean cracked up and turned to see if Alice had seen his little prank. She raised her eyebrows, falsely impressed. She turned to look back at the painting and only saw herself.

"Oh, shit," she exclaimed. Sam and Dean looked back, flashlights in her eyes and the EMF was still going wild.

"What, are you okay?" Sam asked.

"I swear to you, there was someone in that mirror. She was crying and she, she looked…"

"She looked what?" Dean asked.

"Like Marilyn Monroe." Sam and Dean backtracked to look at the mirror but didn't see her.

"Well, that would make sense," Sam said, "she's been known to visit."

Alice nodded. She had started to hear the harmonica louder and louder and then a woman's voice singing along to it. It sounded just like her mother. Alice looked over her shoulder back at room 1202 and started walking towards it. Dean called after her but Sam kept his mouth shut and shone some light on her.

"Alice what is it?" Sam asked. Alice held up a finger and leaned closer to the door as if to listen.

"You don't hear that? A lady singing along to the harmonica?" She asked. The boys shook their heads no.

"I don't even hear the harmonica anymore, Al," Sam admitted.

Alice turned the knob and pushed the door open. Dean had looked over his shoulder for a second but, when he turned around, Sam and Alice had disappeared and the door to 1202 had been slammed shut.

"Alice? Sammy?" Dean looked around him and saw no one beside him, no gargantuan little brother, no small brunette, only doors, closed doors, closed seemingly shaking doors. Or was the shaking from the floors? He could hear the uproar of partygoers downstairs but there was something else, a pounding and, was that someone calling his name?

"Dean!" Sam called from, it seemed, in the walls. There was a pounding from behind the mirror that Alice had seen Marilyn Monroe, so much so that the mirror itself shook off and smashed on the ground. At it shattered, Dean felt a cold spot and heard that scream and laughter again until it faded into nothing.

"Sam!" Dean called out. The pounding got stronger and stronger until an arm broke through. Dean stepped back and took a stance, bracing himself for whatever was coming out of that wall. Luckily, it turned out to be Sam. "Sam, how the hell did you get back there?" Dean said, pulling his brother out of the wall completely.

"I don't really know, Alice opened that door and...I heard her though, I heard her in the room. Did she go through?"

"I don't know, the two of you disappeared at the same time."

"I think," Sam said," I think she was talking to someone."

Dean leaned into the door where he last saw Alice and heard her voice ragged, but no one else's.

"You sure about that, Sammy?"

Sam nodded, finally getting his breath back.

"Remember when we checked out Alice's case all those years ago? Did we burn the bones?"

"Of Alice's parents? Yeah, that was one of the first things we did after the funeral."

"Right. They must be tied to something then."

"You think it's her parents?"

"Yeah, she said she heard singing

Sam just looked at Dean surprised, "well, why can't we hear it then?"

"I don't know," Dean said shaking his head. "But whatever they're tied to, it's gotta be in that room, right?" Dean started knocking on the door and calling Alice's name. It took a few minutes and Sam to join until she responded. Her voice sounded much farther than just behind the door.

"That's it, I'm kicking it down," Dean said. He started kicking and launching his body at the door but there was no avail.

"You're losing your touch, Dean."

"Shut up," he said taking a break. Whatever's behind that door won't let me open it.

"Let me try," Sam said, moving around Dean.

With just a nudge into the door it opened. Sam looked at Dean, showing off, but before Dean could retort Alice walked through the door, closing it quickly behind her.

"We should go," was all she said. She seemed to walk through Dean and Sam towards the staircase. Sam jogged to catch up but Dean peaked into the room before leaving. He saw a made bed, the door to the bathroom slightly ajar, two bedside tables, a chest and a window slowly defrosting. Nothing left.

As the three of them walked down the stairs, Alice was quiet, pushing past the strangers in costume at the party. Sam and Dean followed her to the Impala. She sat on the hood and took a breath in. She was thankful it was warmer here on the west coast and outside of that hotel.

"Alice, what happened back there?" Sam asked tentatively. He stood by her side, blocking her view of the hotel, and Dean moved more in front of her, blocking her view of the city. In her hands was a small ring, not big enough to fit her, not anymore. She moved the ring between her fingers before she looked at the boys.

"Can you burn gold?" she asked.

"Only if you want to melt it down," Sam said.

Alice nodded and looked like she may cry, but she ended up laughing instead, just a little. She put the tiny ring on her ring finger and it stopped at the knuckle.

"Alice, was it-"

"My parents," Alice confirmed, cutting off Sam. Dean's brow furrowed even more, if that was possible.

"You must have been their unfinished business," Sam said putting his hand on her shoulder lightly.

"No shit," Alice said nodding again, a strange mix of crying and laughing coming from her. She looked down and took a breath before looking back up at Sam and Dean, lingering, just slightly, on the older brother.

"C'mon," Dean said, motioning for her hand, "let's head out of here." Alice held onto his hand as she climbed down from the hood of the Impala. "Careful of the paint," he whispered to her as she stepped down.


End file.
